Cold, wet, dark.....these have been some dreary mornings. Temps were in the 40's this morning with a light rain and headwind. I can't believe I've already had to pull out the Winter jacket, but it's a perfect compliment to this weather as well as my desire to wear only one, short sleeved shirt. I stay fairly dry and warm, could have been worse. Also, as much as I hate them, I guess the fenders are on for good-looking forward to May when they come off again :-) . I guess the weekend's rain will tank my mountain biking plans, hopefully this will clear up by Monday.

Windy and cold this morning, my legs were pretty tired when I arrived at the office.
I ran three miles with my wife yesterday at an easy pace which felt great. There is a chance of rain and snow later this afternoon which should be interesting.
I don't always like to write about the bad things that happened on my commute, but someone began to right hook me this morning and then she hesitated so I cut around the car on the left side to get by, geesh! Why don't people just wait a few seconds before they make their turn, some people's depth perception is just way off.

I am glad I have a beard, it comes in handy.

I couldn't have put it better. I leave the fenders on (I switch bikes for the weather). It looks like I'll be saying goodnight to my Trek 330 until Spring...sigh

On an up note, I installed bigger mudflaps ala Alex Wetmore's page. Already been through a couple of slogs, and I kept my feet drier than they might be otherwise. See, nice and Fred :D :

We've had some temps down to the lower 20s lately (F), but it hasn't been below 35*F and raining at the same time yet. I've gotten pretty wet at 40*F a couple of days lately, but it doesn't really bother me. Beats driving anyway.

It's cooling down. Was below freezing this morning, and there was frost even next to the lake. Unusual for this time of year.

The MUP passes a campground. The place is closed for the season now, but there was a stream of water flowing over the MUP itself, which was odd. I got a few yards past it, and thought, "Wait, did some jerk go in there and turn on a tap?" I turned around and went into the campground area.

Sure enough, a tap was cranked all the way open and gushing water. :rolleyes: I turned it off. The ground was soaked. People are morons.

warm 50sF when I left, DOWNPOUR started w/ ~2 miles to go.

Decent ride this morning. 45 minutes mostly on a MUP watching fog come off the Boise river. Temp was about 40F, and I overdressed. Work shower took care of the sweaty mess I was when I go in. :)

Today was the first commute trial for my new to me Nishiki mountain bike. Things a tank with rack fenders, panniers and the 7ah SLA battery for my lighting system. Still managed up the hill just fine - heavy bikes just mean better training rides right? :D

That being said I love the homebrew lighting - 45 minutes took the battery down to 40%, its charging now @ my desk, guess I can live with that.

This whole week has been cool, upper 30's in the am and mid forties for the pm, cloudy and light rain. Pretty much miserable for this time of year, but on the flip side I think my body has acclimated to the cool/cold temps already.

Because of the cooler temps I have reverted back to my shorter distance route but with all the lights, stop signs and general crappy streets I think I am going to rethink that strategy. Shorter isn't always faster.

I meant to post this last night- but on the way home from work SFPD blocked off Market St & 6th St in SF because of the Pres' motorcade.

In just a few mins there was a ton of foot traffic, bus traffic and bike traffic backed up, but everyone was cool. Once Obama rolled through everyone waved.

Once they let us through it was like being in a giant pack for a while. It was nice to just roll along and just stare at the hundreds of blinkies in front of me...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2704/...3657bc4e_m.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/...8d1066bc_m.jpg

Interesting ride home. Everything was normal until I got to the boardwalk on the MUP. It's elevated, with railings on each side of course.

And yet another tree down across it. #(@* beavers! Third one this week! 3 people were already there, trying to shove it off the boardwalk, so I joined in. We could only get it so far, so we started breaking branches off of it, but that left nice dangerous stakes on which people can impale themselves. :rolleyes: So we started hanging things off of them so people don't get hurt. :p

The town has been notified.

TGIF!
:beer:

The last couple days have been wet. It was 32 F ( 0 C) coming home, and they are talking some
flurry stuff later. I have exhausted my inventory of chilly weather gear, everything is soaked and
I didn't want to break out my cold weather gear yet. It's a good thing it is the end of the week. I
have time to recover, although, I was not comfortable this morning as I had to ad lib gear, because
everything was still wet from yesterday. The constant cold rain is not easy, for which to plan long
term anyway.

Big mess this morning. I managed 1.5 miles from home before sustaining a vicious pinch flat. Stopped to change the tube, only to find my spare had a short valve stem and would not reach far enough through for the pump head. Popped open my patch kit to find the glue was dry. Fail Fail Fail :crash:

Rode 1.5 miles back up hill to home on the flat tire, swapped bikes and tried again. Finally made it to work 1/2 hour late. Of course I forgot to grab a fresh spare tube, and have my fingers crossed for the ride home...

Wet but not raining.

When it was time to go, I needed to bring my laptop home but I was 6 hrs into a loooooong simulation(hopefully it will be done in the morning, or at least by Monday) so I just turned the power saving off and stuffed it in the pannier for the 7 mile ride home. Very happy to find when I got home that it kept running!

I guess I had forgotten how nice and peaceful MUPS can be later at night. A mix of that and backroads made yesterdays return home great! Now I just need a better light set up!

Haven't commuted for a couple days, my company finally got hammered by the economy and I was one of the cuts... hopefully next job will be close enough to keep commuting by bike...

Finally some cooler weather!!! Great commute today, ride home was in the mid 50s and tailwinds most of the way, no complaints here.


P.s. jdmitch-sorry to hear about your job man, good luck with your search for a new one, I've got fingers crossed you find one that's commutable.

Sorry to hear about the job. I was laid off in June and just started working last week. I was lucky enough to find a job within commuting distance (5½ miles).

Good luck to you.

First time it rained to & from work since I don't know when. Usual 20 mph wind here on the cape, gusts to 40+ were a nice touch. Toes got damp but not really wet.

At work went out in the company car. Someone left the driver side window open about 1/4". Got wetter driving that than to & from work on the bike.

No commute, rode for the sheer enjoyment of riding.

Easy ride in, but a tad chilly at 32 F (0 C). Today, they are prediciting the 60s F ( upper teens C)
this afternoon, so it should be a nice ride home in the sun. These are days when I carry chilly gear
and warm weather gear, and I always forget something. On Friday, 16 Oct this area set a record for
the coldest Oct 16 in a 138 years of record keeping, but no one had to tell me that.

Yup, just like fletchh. 32 degrees when I got on the bike at 5am. Frost on the ground!

Got to see one of the Arlington Mobile Commuter Store RV's wallop a Honda Civic, that made for some entertainment!

Hate to rub it in, but a beautiful 72 at 5:00 this morning. Although, it's going to be low 90's on the way home this afternoon. :(

Eggs Florentine. Two poached eggs,ham,spinach and hollandais sauce on two english
muffins. Watched the sun come up from a diner on the way in.
Celebrating the end of a rainy nor'easter.:)

45* and dark

i love to rub it in! lol today was a beutifull day with 82 F temp, like all Puertorrican mornings! lol

you guys are my heros!

went out of the house with my new Marathon plus tires, and desided to ride the entire way to work, no boat ride for me today.

today i noticed how most drivers are pretty stressed, punching the accel from red light to next red light, guess many of them were pissed at the biker that passes them every time they stop lol!

went thru 2 parks, and the birds were singing, with a light breeze hitting my face....had to do more effort going against the wind, hopefully running against the wind will train me better.

I used to take a ferry thru the harbor. Changed work locations tho.
The ferry ride was a lot of fun!

:thumb::thumb:yeah marine transport is a completly different experience! feels older than old school "ancient school":roflmao2:

Reading the history of the local Fore River Shipyard founded by Tom Watson.
The guy that answered Alexander Bells' first phone call.
Great story!!!:)
I digress, windy, low 40's. little bit on the raw side.

First frosty morning of the year! It was a wonderful 31 degrees F when I left for work at 6:25 this morning, had to break out the wool socks...nice ride in, I think I saw maybe 4 or 5 cars total.

Ride home was nice, 45 F and not a cloud in the sky :)

50sF, gray.

Passed a dead possum in the bike lane, and started to realize he'd only get more stuck in place as fall progresses into winter, so I went back and threw him into a ditch.